


Hematophagy: A case study

by NightshadeArabs



Category: Original Work
Genre: Research Trip, Science, Scientific words, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26454901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightshadeArabs/pseuds/NightshadeArabs
Summary: Vampire.... frogs?Surely that is just some legend told to scare tourists.
Kudos: 1





	Hematophagy: A case study

**Author's Note:**

> This story was borne of a discussion between one of my sisters and me. I took the idea and ran with it.

We thought they were simple, standard Rhacophorus vampyrus. R. Vamprus, vampire frogs, have fangs in the tadpole state to feed on the unfertilized eggs left by the mother frog. It really is a step forward in frog parenting. However, we quickly realized that these frogs were keeping their fangs well past the tadpole stage. As we had only found dead specimens we had no way of knowing what the fangs were used for in adulthood. We assumed it was for holding slippery bugs, like how teeth are used in some fish. If you can keep hold of your prey, you are more likely to gain enough nutrition to reproduce. Thus, ensuring the continuation of lines of frogs that possess the teeth.  
There had been some talk amongst the local guides about blood sucking frog type creatures, but we mostly dismissed it as local legends. Most of which had proven to be unsubstantiated. Sure, there were animals out there that they were based on, but the truth was never as weird as the tales. This time proved to be quite different. Local intelligence and legends had a way of changing over the years and morphing into much larger things. It’s easy to think you see a dragon off in the dark, just around the bend in some remote forest. That’s how mythology had begun. Surely this was another one of those things.  
We were in the jungles of Southern Vietnam when the first incident happened. As we forged through thick underbrush Rich suddenly slapped his hand to his neck, it was the only skin aside from his face that was exposed. He hollered as he pried a small creature from his skin with the one hand and used the other to staunch the bleeding. At first, we had assumed he hadn’t put on enough bug spray, but we quickly realized that wasn’t right as he asked for a specimen jar and the med kit at the same time. He dropped a very angry, slightly bloody, frog into the jar and it jumped around the sides for a while before settling in. It was still stuck by its gooey pads to the wall of the jar. It looked like a normal R. Vamprus crossed with a Hyla cinereal. But, the Hyla is an American green tree frog. That shouldn’t be here. It also shouldn’t have those visible teeth, fangs, and shouldn’t have Rich’s blood all over it’s face. We got Rich patched up and went to continue our trek. We encountered three more of the jumping biting frogs quickly after that and we filled jars and modified our wardrobes. It seemed they only aimed for the neck.  
When we showed the frogs to our guides back at camp, they just gave is knowing nods. They knew exactly what these were and told us they had been a problem in this region since story telling had begun. So, why hadn’t we heard of them? It seemed that those bitten by them lost some blood to the encounter but were otherwise unaffected. The guides told us the real danger from these frogs came from unwary campers. It seems the larger hungrier frogs came out at night, and if you didn’t have protection you were likely to die in your sleep.  
We cut the research trip short.


End file.
